Incredible Photos Of Immigrants Arriving At Ellis Island

New Country, New Name?

It has long been a legend that government officials encouraged immigrants to change their names upon arrival. However, historical records do not indicate that this was the case. Inspectors referenced passenger lists from the steamship companies in order to process the immigrants. The paperwork came from companies such as the Cunard Line, the White Star Line, and the Holland America Line not the U.S. Bureau of Immigration.

Most immigrants Americanized their names after the immigration process, sometimes by second or third generations. There were also some discrepancies because of foreign pronunciations of certain letters in the alphabet and due to language disparities.